Mangaleswary Kumarasamy

Legal advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang/ Vice Chair of the women’s wing of the Democratic Action Party; Board member of Penang Women’s Development Corporation; Advisor to the Special Committee on Tamil Schools in Penang

“When I realized that my place of worship was at stake, that’s when I came closer to the grassroots problems. I came to the rural areas which are 24% Indian (in Penang) and realized they don’t have basic needs met. Their house does not belong to them. The land does not belong to them. The place where they stand to pray does not belong to them. The school to which they send their children has problems.”

More than a decade ago, Mangaleswary began devoting all her “free time” outside her private law practice to giving the local Tamil community, and other marginalized groups, a voice in the struggles over land use that threatened their homes, their places of worship and their livelihoods. The Tamil inherited a legacy of landlessness from the British who brought Indians to work in the rubber and tin plantations more than a hundred years ago. Tamil primary schools are just one focus in Mangaleswary’s pursuit of fairness in land allocation. As an active DAP party member, with an insider’s perspective, she now serves as advisor to Penang’s Chief Minister. She has been able to boost empowerment and advance the agendas of these marginalized communities.